SHOOTING SPARKS NORTH MINNEAPOLIS MELEE

A 10-year-old boy was wounded by a police bullet that ricocheted during a
drug raid Thursday night, prompting some residents to rampage through a
north Minneapolis neighborhood, breaking windows, throwing bottles at
police and assaulting members of the media.

A police spokeswoman said that the scene, in the vicinity of 26th and Knox
Avs. N. in the Jordan neighborhood, was "still heated but ramping down"
about 11:15 p.m. and that police were pulling back in hopes that the
violence would subside.

The boy injured in the drug raid was struck in his forearm by a bullet that
ricocheted off the street when an officer fired at a charging pit bull at
the house that was being raided, said police spokeswoman Cyndi Barrington.

He was taken to North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale. His injuries
did not appear to be life-threatening and his mother was with him,
Barrington said.

Three people were arrested at the house where the drug raid occurred,
Barrington said. The raid and shooting occurred at 7:30 p.m., and tensions
grew later as TV news crews arrived to cover the event.

Around 75 to 100 people gathered and began to shout at police and
reporters, police said.

Windows were broken out of a WCCO-TV, Channel 4, news vehicle and in a
Metro Transit bus. A police spokeswoman said a KMSP-TV, Channel 9, news
vehicle was burned. Two Star Tribune reporters, a photographer for the St.
Paul Pioneer Press and a reporter for WCCO-TV and another from WCCO radio
were hurt.

There were no other reports of other bystanders or police officers being
injured.

The incident began when a Minneapolis police special SWAT team carrying out
a "high risk" narcotics warrant approached a house in the 1700 block of
26th Av. N., Barrington said.

Police had information that there had been gun activity in the house, and
individuals there had threatened to kill the police in the past, Barrington
said.

A few people were standing outside the house when police arrived. One man
held a pit bull on a leash. Officers asked that the man keep the dog on the
leash, but he released the dog and it charged the officers baring its
teeth, Barrington said.

One officer shot and killed the dog, but the bullet ricocheted off the
street and hit a 10-year-old boy who lives at the house. Barrington said it
was unclear how far the boy was standing from the dog, but she emphasized
that the boy was not in the line of fire.

Angered residents gathered and began yelling profanities and throwing
bottles at police, Barrington said. She said the boy's father told people
in the crowd that police had fired at his son.

"The important thing for everyone to know is that there was no one, not
even the 10-year-old, who was in the line of fire," Barrington said. "This
is a freak, unfortunate situation."

After going into the house, police recovered a gun and narcotics,
Barrington said.

Star Tribune reporter David Chanen said he and reporter Howie Padilla were
walking away from the scene after police pulled back when they were
assaulted. Padilla went to a convenience store, where he was picked up by a
police lieutenant. Chanen, who lost his glasses, drove several blocks from
the scene and then was picked up by a Star Tribune employee.

Nate Thomson, a photographer for the Pioneer Press, was hit by an object on
the back of his head, said Dave Peters, a senior editor. He was taken to
North Memorial, where he had some stitches and was released.

Three KMSP employees were stuck in a satellite truck for about an hour
while it was surrounded by people, said Steve McCarthy, an assignment
editor. One window was smashed, he said. They were able to safely leave
about 10:30 p.m.

Spokeswomen for KARE-TV, Channel 11, and KSTP-TV, Channel 5, said their
reporters and photographers, who left the area about 9 p.m., were not injured.

"We pulled out of there just in the nick of time," said Melody White, a
KSTP assignment editor. Barrington said she was swept into a police car by
two officers as the disturbance escalated. She was taken to City Hall,
where she briefed media on developments late into the evening.

Chanen said he was assaulted minutes after arriving at the intersection of
26th and Knox Avs. N. After parking his car about a block away, he
approached the scene to find "a large group of people" screaming and
throwing bottles.

As Chanen began talking with Padilla, a group of seven or eight people
walked toward them, threw him to the ground and started beating him, he said.

"They started kicking me and laughing and they were punching me in the
head," he said late Thursday night. "I was just screaming for them to stop.
I just curled up in a ball."

Chanen said the attack stopped later after someone hollered that he was a
reporter.

"I found my cell phone and looked for my glasses," he said. "One of the
guys who was beating me up picked me up. He said, 'You better just get in
your car and get out of here,' " he said.

He was taken to the emergency room of Fairview Southdale Hospital, where he
was being treated for cuts and bruises and a possible broken nose.

Padilla said he also was beaten by a group of people. He was eventually
taken by police to North Memorial Medical Center, where he was being
treated late Thursday.

WCCO-TV reporter Bridgette Bornstein and photographer Joe Mears decided to
leave about 9:20 p.m., after they saw police pulling out. The crowd had
been shouting and taunting police for about 45 minutes, she said. She said
she didn't hear anyone yell at the media.

"It just built and built and built," she said. "We were talking about was
it safe? Should we be here?"

After consulting their executive producer, they decided to leave, she said.
They had driven about a block in their unmarked news van when "we heard
somebody shout something like 'Get them!' or something like that,"
Bornstein said.

All of a sudden, one window in their van broke, followed by two others.

"I didn't see it coming. I just saw the glass shatter on my lap," she said.
"And then we drove off." Bornstein suffered minor cuts to her arm. Mears
was unharmed.

"I'm shaking a little bit, but I'm fine," she said. "It could've been a lot
worse."

The incident is the latest in a series of high profile and tense encounters
this summer between Minneapolis police and residents.

On Aug. 1, Minneapolis police officer Melissa Schmidt was shot and killed
in a shootout with a Minneapolis woman, Martha Donald, in the restroom of a
public housing complex on the city's south side. Donald, 60, also died in
the shootout.

Donald's niece had called police earlier in the night after Donald
threatened her with a handgun. Last week, more than 100 people gathered
outside Minneapolis City Hall to protest an incident Aug. 13 in which
police shot and wounded a 19-year-old member of the Rolling 60s Crips gang
in north Minneapolis, not far from the scene of Thursday's disturbance.

He had allegedly pointed a gun at police officers. At one point, the
demonstration turned into a heated dialogue regarding allegations of police
brutality.

"There have been two incidents that have probably left everyone's emotions
in the Twin Cities pretty raw," Barrington said.

"We want the best relationship possible with everyone in the community,"
she said. "Unfortunately, a lot of misinformation is out there. There isn't
enough facts."

When asked if officers deliberately shot at the boy, as some in the
neighborhood had alleged, Barrington strongly responded, "Absolutely not."

"Everybody must take a step back and take a deep breath," she said. "This
shouldn't be citizens against the police."